UCD Breast Health Day 2017

Written by:
Ronan Gough

Written on
Tuesday, 05 December, 2017

Tuesday 24th October marked the third annual UCD Breast Health Day. The event was organized by SBI with help from colleagues from UCD Conway Institute, BREAST-PREDICT, UCD Nutrition Society, One Health UCD, UCD PharmTox Society and Europa Donna Ireland, the breast cancer patient advocacy group, as part of the international Breast Health Day. The Europa Donna established Breast Health Day as an awareness raising campaign for women and girls around Europe, to inform them about the steps they can take to protect themselves against breast cancer.

Volunteers were based on four stands across campus to spread awareness that girls and women can influence future breast health and help prevent breast cancer via their lifestyle choices.

Members from the UCD Nutritional Society promoted the importance of a healthy diet for breast health, with visual aids demonstrating how much sugar is in some of your favourite drinks and snacks, for example did you know a can of red bull contains 27.5 g of sugar - that’s 7 cubes! They were also on hand to help people calculate their body mass index, with current recommendations that individuals maintain a BMI of between 18.5 and 24.9 for their breast health.

Students also got an opportunity to see what a breast cancer cell looks like up close via a microscope, with researchers and volunteers from BREAST-PREDICT, SBI, the Conway Institute and Pharmtox explaining the latest cutting-edge research going on in UCD.

In line with getting out the message that exercise can help reduce your risk to breast cancer, students were invited to try the hula hoop challenge, with those getting the best times in line for a prize, courtesy of generous donations from Chopped, Nourish, McCartan's Pharmacy and UCD Hospitality. There was also a fruit bananaza, with plenty of delicious kiwis, oranges, apples and pears handed out to fuel hungry staff and students and get them into the healthy eating habit, with thanks to Morton’s Ranelagh.

The day was a great success with lots of people leaving with the central message of the importance of breast health, advice about a healthy diet and exercise, as well as information on breast screening programmes.

Speaking after the event, Ciara Devine of Europa Donna Ireland said

'When many are worried about breast cancer, perhaps unaware of anything that they can do, our Breast Health Day message of simple lifestyle changes that can make a positive difference to future breast health is an empowering one. ‘